The invention relates generally to welding systems, and, more particularly, to a welding wire guide for use in a welding system.
Welding is a process that has increasingly become ubiquitous in various industries and applications. While such processes may be automated in certain contexts, a large number of applications continue to exist for manual welding operations. Such welding operations rely on a variety of types of equipment to ensure the supply of welding consumables (e.g., wire feed, shielding gas, etc.) is provided to the weld in an appropriate amount at the desired time. For example, metal inert gas (MIG) welding typically relies on a wire feeder to ensure a proper wire feed reaches a welding torch.
Such wire feeders facilitate the feeding of welding wire from a wire spool, through a pair of wire feed rolls, to the welding torch at the desired wire feed rate. Typically the wire is guided into the feed rolls with a tapered cylindrical tube fixed adjacent to the feed rolls. As the stack diameter of the wire wound on the spool changes due to wire use, the angle in the vertical plane at which the wire enters the cylindrical guide changes. In addition, the angle at which the wire enters the guide changes in the horizontal plane due to the helical unwind of the wire spool. Unfortunately, such an arrangement forces the wire into a fixed entry angle by sharply redirecting the wire as it enters the cylindrical guide. This leads to deformation of the wire surface and causes shavings from the wire to detach, which can ultimately clog welding torch liners and tips. Accordingly, there exists a need for a wire guide that overcomes these drawbacks.